


Dream 2

by Doug48



Series: Dreams [2]
Category: Zootopia (2016)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Drama, F/M, No Smut, Police Procedural
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-13
Updated: 2018-05-18
Packaged: 2019-05-06 10:05:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 14,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14639577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Doug48/pseuds/Doug48
Summary: I was thinking about a comment someone made after the first Dream story, and then I realized Nick had probably made a mistake by telling Judy he loved her during that phone message in Chapter 2. I realized the story would be, and could be, very different, and possibly better. I made the two stories part of a series due to the similarities, and because both are based on the same fan fiction I read on this website last year before I decided to write this as a kind of continuation. I asked for, and received, permission from that author to post something like the previous story, and this one is very similar.





	1. Chief Bogo's Office

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Having recently returned home to Zootopia from a vacation in Bunnyburrow with Judy Hopps, Nickolas Wilde now has to face the music.

The fox and the rabbit were having another argument when they heard the buffalo. 

“Wilde!" Chief Bogo shouted, "Hopps. My office. NOW!” Everyone in the police station had heard plenty of shouts for comparison and the name Wilde had been shouted more often than others. However, this time his partner was also involved.

The rabbit started running toward the chief’s office, but the fox did not, or not immediately. 

“I’m telling you. He doesn’t know!” The fox said, sounding angry, as he ran to catch the rabbit. The rabbit had heard this tone much more often lately. 

“He knows you're goofing off. How could he not know?” Judy waved as they passed Officer Wolford, but Nick glared and the wolf turned away, awkwardly. 

The fox grabbed the rabbit’s arm as she turned another corner ahead of him, but he released the arm when the smaller rabbit turned back to glare at him. “We’ll talk about this at home,” she hissed, having felt his claws dig into her fur.

“What if I don't want to talk about it?” The fox asked, leaning forward aggressively. 

“Do not ask!” 

Officer Judy Hopps and then Officer Nick Wilde entered the chief’s office and shut the door. As usual, the office was arranged for larger mammals like the buffalo, and there were few amenities for smaller mammals like rabbits and foxes. 

It may be that the chief did this on purpose because he had so few smaller mammals working for him now, and maybe he expected to have less shortly. 

“Take your seats,” the chief said. He looked angry, but then, he always looked angry. 

They climbed up in the seats in the usual, awkward fashion. The bunny turned to help the fox, but he ignored her hand. They did not sit in the too large chair. Instead, they stood facing the cape buffalo across the desk. Wilde looked annoyed, and Hopps looked ashamed. Both refused to meet their boss’ eyes. 

'I had such high hopes for that partnership,' Bogo thought. 'The rabbit, at least, can probably be salvaged.' 

“So. I have your reports related to your recent stay in Bunnyburrow. Anything you’d like to add?” Wilde and Hopps shook their heads. Wilde had looked at Hopps first, Bogo noted. “OK. I have some questions for the two of you and then I’d like to talk to you individually.”

“Are we in trouble, sir?” Wilde asked. To the chief, the voice sounded almost like a whine. 

‘You are’, Bogo thought, but didn’t say it or let any sort of sign show on his face. “This is just an informal discussion. A couple of my officers had some trouble while on vacation in another jurisdiction last week, and I've received a report from them. Certain details came to their attention as a result of questioning Rocco Lars, and now I’d like your thoughts regarding those details.” 

Officer Wilde looked alarmed. 

“Let’s start with you, Wilde, when did you know about Rocco’s plan and what did you do? Your report isn’t very clear on those points.” The chief leaned forward slightly. Timing was the detail on which he most wanted clarity. 

“I found out the first time I talked to him. He told me he was planning to steel the golden carrot in broad daylight and I didn’t believe him. After I talked to him again, I got more information, but it still seemed ridiculous. The next day, I caught him actually steeling the carrot and I arrested him. It’s all in the report.”

“Why didn’t you inform anyone, including your partner, about your suspicions?” The chief asked. Wilde had not said what day was the ‘first time I talked to him,’ the chief noticed. 

“Judy and I had a fight, so I didn’t tell her. I didn’t tell anyone else because I didn’t think they’d believe me. In any case, if they did believe me and confronted Rocco, he’d just lie and say he never said any such thing, or that he never did anything wrong. Planning a robbery is not a crime,” the fox said. 

“I see,” Bogo paused and made a note. "You might do some research on the phrase 'criminal conspiracy' when next you have free time."

The fox said nothing, and the buffalo turned his attention to the rabbit. “Hopps, did Wilde tell you anything about Rocco’s plan?”

“No sir. We had had a fight, like he said, because I called Rocco names on Sunday and then Nick defended him. I was angry and avoided my partner most of the rest of that day.”

“Did you talk to him after he met Rocco and before the actual theft?”

“Yes sir, “ the rabbit replied. 

“Did he mention the plans for the crime? Even hint about it? Maybe just ‘Hey Judy, hypothetically speaking…’ kind of thing?” The buffalo asked this almost kindly. He knew what her answer would be based on the way her report had been written. As chief, he had read many reports and he knew perfectly well when an officer, or officers, in this case, were trying to hide something because one of them had screwed up. 

“….”

“Please answer the question.”

She looked at Wilde, who looked away, and then she said “No sir. But we didn’t really talk all that much anyway and I’m sure-“

“That’s enough. Officer Hopps, please wait outside.”

Judy put her hand on Nick’s shoulder, briefly, and then left the room and closed the door. Nick didn’t react, but kept his head and ears down. 

The buffalo waited for the rabbit to leave and then looked at the fox for half a minute before speaking. “So. While in Bunnyburrow, you were mad at Judy and feeling sorry for yourself, as usual, and you engaged with a criminal in a conspiracy to commit a felony. You didn’t tell anyone because you hadn’t decided if you wanted to go through with it, and participate in the actual golden carrot theft, or not. At the last minute, you got cold feet and tried to arrest Rocco to cover up your earlier indecisiveness. That about right?” The statements and question were delivered calmly, like he was talking about the weather.

“That is not what happened!” Wilde growled, showing his teeth. 

Bogo looked unimpressed, and spoke calmly. “Wilde, this is my office and that kind of display may well get you squashed if you do it again,” the chief said, tapping one massive hoof on the surface of his equally massive desk. “The Bunnyburrow sheriff is a friend of mine and he knows Rocco fairly well. Rocco told him that you, Wilde, were going to get a ten percent split of the profits for your part in the operation, which was going to be to store the carrot until it was safe to fence. Apparently he offered you five percent initially, but you insisted on ten, or you would, as he put it, 'walk away'. The sheriff doesn’t think Rocco made up those details. 

“We know that you confronted Rocco during the actual theft and attempted to arrest him, he resisted, and then he tried to escape by driving away in his truck. You made him stop the vehicle and then arrested him after a large amount of property damage occurred. Rocco thinks you interfered in order to get a larger share of the take, but I think you just changed your mind at the last minute. Neither of those reasons are acceptable for a police mammal in my precinct.” 

The chief then looked at the papers on his desk. “In addition, you have often been asleep on duty, and you are unable to meet even the simplest quotas. The better an officer is, the more likely I am to be lenient when something like this happens. Conversely, the worse an officer is, the less leniency. Do you understand?”

“Yes,” Wilde said, looking defeated again. 

“You will no longer be partners with Officer Hopps. First, because you’ve been making her cover for you while you goof off on duty; and second, because you failed to inform her that you, and a mammal that she believed had already committed at least one crime, were planning a felony.” 

“But- You can’t do that!” 

“You don’t tell me what I can and cannot do, fox,” the chief said, evenly. Both the buffalo and the fox remembered that day in the rain forest district, the first time they met. This time, however, Nick was wrong and they both knew it. 

“…“

Bogo just looked at the fox for several seconds. Finally, the chief said, “We can choose the paths we take and the choices we make. Good or bad. You chose badly.” He said this calmly, not because he was too angry to shout, but because he found himself too tired. "Get out of my office."

Officer Wilde went out and then Officer Hopps came in. Their eyes met and the fox saw pity and a kind of resignation in her eyes. 

“Sir, Nick is just upset right now….” Judy began and then trailed off. She had obviously heard most of the conversation. 

The buffalo looked at the partially open door and wondered if the fox was outside, listening. ‘I don’t much care,’ the buffalo thought. 

“He’s holding you back, you know,” the chief said, sounding like a kind uncle giving advice. “If anything, it’s gotten worse since you got back from Bunnyburrow. You know you need a real partner, not that.”

“Yes sir, but-. But he means well and it’s my fault he didn’t get enough rest. And I know how to take care of him,” Judy replied. She knew the words sounded like weak excuses because that’s what they were. She’s said these same things too many times before. 

“We both know what really happened, or almost happened, and being well rested has never really been a problem for him, has it? You know what he was going to do until he changed his mind. As for taking care of him? He’s not a child, even if he does act like one." 

“Yes, sir,” the rabbit answered. “He's not a child, and he shouldn't be acting the way he does. The way I've been letting him act.“ To the listening fox, the rabbit sounded relieved to admit it to herself at last.


	2. Nick wakes up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nick Wilde realizes that he was dreaming and wonders if this might be a premonition of things to come

I woke up and looked around. It's Thursday night and I am at my place, alone. Judy and I are going to leave for Bunnyburrow Friday morning and then return Tuesday morning before work. I am supposed to meet her at the train station.

'My god', I thought, 'it was so real'. I grabbed my phone and called Carrots without thinking about it.

The phone rang a few times and then went to voicemail. I wanted to talk to HER not her machine, but it was… oh god, 2:17 AM, Friday morning. 

“This is Judy Hopps. Please leave a message after the beep.”

“… Judy, Carrots, I ah… I had a nightmare and I have to talk to you. I’m sorry it’s late. I’m exhausted and I don’t really want to go to Bunnyborrow until we talk. I’m… I’m really tired.” I said, changing my mind at the last moment and taking the coward’s way out, again. I stared at the phone, not knowing what to say if I can’t tell her how I feel, but knowing I have to say something or hang up.

“There was a theft that I didn’t tell anyone about, so I think I lost my job or something. Anyway… So, call me back when you get this?” And I hung up. 

“Smooth,” I muttered to myself. “THAT won’t cause any problems.” 

Then I sat down on the couch by the phone, and thought about what I’m going to say to Judy when I do see her in a few hours or when I talk to her in a few minutes, for that matter. I should have told her I loved her because I would finally have said it and that was the cause of… no. The causes of all my problems was my own feeling of self pity because I thought she didn’t love me. Now, if the dream is right, then she does love me, but she won’t be ready to admit it until Monday night, after she sees me with a vixen. What am I going to say? If she doesn't call back soon, she probably won't....

I woke up when I heard a knock on my door. I immediately jumped up, walked over, and opened the door, not caring that I wasn’t dressed. There was Judy with her ears drooped behind her head, staring, first, at my boxer shorts, and then at the wall by my door. She was carrying two coffees and a backpack. 

“You’re not ready to go,” she said, not sounding surprised. 

I let her in, closed the door, and took the coffees while she put the pack by the wall next to my door. 

“You left me a phone message?” she asked. She seldom listens to my messages, unless she isn’t going to see me for a few days, which is very rare. Usually, she just asks me to repeat them when we see each other. 

“Yeah, I had a nightmare about going to Bunnyburrow and called you when I woke up. In the dream, I had a fight with your parents, I had a date with a vixen, and I committed a felony. It was really something,” I said, counting on my fingers, and surprising myself by how calm I sounded. The way the chief and Judy talked about me is still fresh in my mind. 

“Eh. Just a dream. Don’t worry about it,” she said. “Now, go get dressed. Have you packed yet?”

There was something about her tone of voice, like she was talking to a child who didn’t want to eat his vegetables. I hadn’t noticed it before, but I noticed it now. “I packed last night,” I said, staring down at her and not moving.

She started pushing me toward my bedroom, and I thought, briefly, about making a joke about sex, but then I got a look at her face. She looked determined and distracted, and I’ve seen this expression before. She uses it when she’s dealing with the drunks we sometimes encounter on the job. 

“I’m really tired, Carrots, but I’m not an invalid,” I said, still not moving. I’m taller and heavier than she is and not unbalanced at the moment, so I don’t have to move if I don’t want to, unless she wants to physically subdue me and drag me to the bedroom. 

Pushing having not succeeded, she tried humor. “Tired? Don’t tell me you’ve been working too hard!” She said, and smiled as she waited for me to laugh and go get dressed like a good boy. I have always laughed at that joke in the past, but now I knew it wasn’t really a joke. 

“I will get dressed,” I said, and disentangled myself from her pushing arms. I was gentle, but firm, and she pulled her paws back and put them up in the air. 

She was sitting on the couch when I came back into the room a few minutes later. I was now dressed and I had my suitcase and a bedroll. 

“Let’s go!” she said, with false enthusiasm. I didn’t move, so she asked, “What’s wrong?” Now she sounded concerned. 

“I’m fucked up, Carrots. I’ve seen my true self, and I don’t like him. I promised to be your partner, but I’m not. I’m just the con-mammal you saw on that first day. Nothing more. Not even a real cop. I’ve fallen back into my old habits,” I said. 

“I know how you and the others see me.” I was standing still, and tears were leaking out of my eyes. I couldn’t stop myself. She watched me a few moments, uncertain, and then got up, walked over, and guided me to sit on the couch. She sat beside me and put an arm around me, and I had to remind myself not to read too much into the embrace. She does not love me, or anyway, is not ready to admit it to herself yet. Same thing. 

“It’s not that bad,” but I heard the uncertainty in her voice. “The other cops think you’re funny.”

“I’m a joke. The jester. The fool,” I whispered. “But I can be better. I will be better, and we’ll go to Bunnyburrow.”

“We might not make the train if we don’t hurry,” Judy observed. 

“Our ride might not be there to pick us up anyway,” I replied, saying what I expected out loud to see if it sounded silly. Most of the time, my dreams fade soon after I wake up, but this one wasn’t fading. Jenny wasn't going to be there to pick us up. 

“You worry too much. Our ride will be there,” she said, sounding confident. If she's there, then my dream was just that and nothing more, but I don't expect to see her until later. 

We caught a cab to the train station, and I thought about what happened in my dream today. Train. Jenny. Pop Pop. .John’s room. Judy’s parents. Jenny's engagement. Bonnie interrogation. Pizza. Then, finally, blessed sleep, but the beds are too small. 

So we took the train to Bunnyborrow, and got there early. Judy let me sleep on the train and I think she stayed awake. 


	3. Living it

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nick and Judy spend their first day together in Bunnyburrow, and Nick meets her family.

“Nick, wake up. We’re here.” She grabbed one of the packs, I grabbed another and my bedroll, and then I more or less stumbled out of the train car and onto the platform behind Judy. Jenny was not there. 

“I guess we’ll walk to one of the fruit stands?” I asked, trying to sound more confident for Judy’s sake. I must have failed, because Judy’s tone and scent were troubled. 

“Yeah, we’ll walk. Sure you’re up for it?”

This was a serious question. As partners in the ZPD, I seldom walked anywhere in the last few months. I preferred the car whenever possible, and some times napped. Judy would often patrol on foot nearby. “Yeah. I’m up for it,” I replied. Time to start being a better me. 

We saw the fruit stand half an hour later, and then Judy sent me to the truck to take a nap. I did not argue. I was tired physically by the hike and emotionally by confronting my feelings. 

I went to the truck and rolled down the windows, so I could sleep in the cab. It was hot, but not as bad as it would have been in back in the sun. There was some breeze coming through the windows and I used my bedroll for a pillow and shut the door. I slept until Judy woke me around 3 PM.

“Nick? Jenny would like to meet you." There was that tone again. Like I was a child. “I told her you had a late night chasing a bank robber.”

“Hi, Jenny,” I said, trying to sound happy, and rubbing sleep from my eyes. 

“Did you catch him?” She asked.

“Yeah, he tried to hide, but I smelled him.”

“Good job,” Jenny said, trying to sound enthusiastic. She turned to Judy. “You can take him to the homestead and get settled in. I’ll join you guys later after Mom and Dad pick me up.”

“Later!” Judy said to her sister. I waved as our truck pulled away. 

We went to the Hopps house and I saw a bunch of rabbit kits playing in the yard, and then her grandfather, Pop-pop, asleep on the porch. This part went exactly like the dream, and I took that as a good sign. “I’m red for camouflage, sir,” I said, because I knew it would cheer him up. He had thought I was an odd looking bunny because I was red and had short ears. Also, he was happy I remembered the same war he remembered, even if neither of us had ever fought in any war.

“You should marry this one, Trudy. He’s smart,“ the old buck said. 

Judy acted embarrassed and then pulled me away and showed me to a room inside the house. It was John’s old room, and Judy would be in the room next door. Judy, John, James, Jerimiah, Jenny, and others, were all brothers and sisters, born at the same time in the same litter, and then raised in the same portion of the household and given the same first letter names. John was currently away from home, so I was borrowing his room. 

I sat on the bed and listened to Judy getting ready to shower through the thin walls. Just like the dream. But now, I was not entertaining myself with thoughts of shower sex. Now, I was wondering how she could love me? I think all of the problems on this long weekend will be my own making, or will not be problems. Because, as Bogo put it, I was feeling sorry for myself. Well, enough of that. 

“Nick? Would you like to take a shower?”” Judy asked through my door after she was done. I agreed, and then prepared to meet her parents. 

We went back outside to find Pop-pop asleep, and I envied him. Judy's parents and sister arrived, but stayed near the truck. Their body language confirmed what I already knew. Bonnie did not approve of one of her daughter’s, Jenny’s, that is, dating choices. And now Bonnie also does not approve of another daughter’s, Judy’s, choice of partner. 

“Do you know what this is about?” Judy asked me. 

I considered saying “ask your father,” but I didn’t. “Looks like Jenny did something your parents don’t like.”

We approached the pickup, and I hung back with the little ones, as I knew I should. Jenny stormed into the house and so Judy asked her mother what was wrong. “Ask you father,” Bonnie said. 

Jenny is planning to marry the raccoon named Rocco Lars. The same raccoon that used to help Gideon Gray bully a younger Judy Hopps. A raccoon that Judy currently despises and even Gideon barely tolerates. We’ll meet him day after tomorrow during my date. 

Judy and her parents compared notes on the state of Jenny's love life until they realized I was standing here listening with their other children, and so I introduced myself. “Nick Wilde, Judy’s police partner,” I said. Her parents shake my paw, and I can see Bonnie measuring me. She does not seem to be impressed. 

We went into the house and sat down. Bonnie went to get drinks, and I tried to stay quiet when she got back. Bonnie, of course, would not accept that. “Just what do you do now, Mr. Wilde?” 

“I’m a cop,” I replied, but didn’t say anything about doing it for a good long while. 

“I heard you used to sell rugs made from skunk butts?” Bonnie said as Judy looked embarrassed. 

"Mom!" 

“Yes, it’s a funny story,” I reply before Judy and her mom can get into an argument. "See, there is this mob boss named Mr. Big, only he's really short-"

“And selling ice cream?” Bonnie asks, interrupting me. 

“Another funny story," I reply again, deciding to keep this one short so she won't interrupt me. "That's how Judy and I met. She bought me an ice cream." Then I look at Judy, and she grins. 

I was trying to be entertaining, and play to my strengths, such as they were. I know she wants some sort of angry reaction because she’s transferring anger from Jenny to me, and anger from me would justify her own feelings and let her either assume the moral high ground by not shouting at me or blow off some steam if she chose the other option. I would like to give her that release as a form of penance, but I’m too emotionally drained right now. Finally, she gives up. 

Food, in the form of the expected pizzas, arrives, and we eat. I am careful not to eat too much or appear to eat too much. 

Judy shows me back to my room later and I sleep on the bedroll on the floor. If I dream, I don’t remember it.


	4. Meet the Greys

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nick continues to explore Bunnyburrow and his relationship with Judy's friends and family

I wake up slightly early Saturday morning, but stay on my bedroll. I am so glad I have it! That short bed would have been torture last night. 

What am I going to do? Based on the dream, today I wake up tired, do some work at the faire, meet the Grays, and then hear the Noots story from Stu at a tavern. There, Judy will set me up on a date with a vixen. 

That date sets all, or most, of the unpleasant events, including my stupid plan to help steel Stu's golden carrot, in my dream into motion. I don’t want to see Judy anymore, so I don’t want to be a cop because that’s what we do together. I find out about a theft planned by Rocco Lars, so I decide to help him and give the money to Jeanette to help her with her dreams to open a cake bakery. Apparently because my dreams could not come true? But, why not? 

Rocco would be the worst sort of partner in any sort of enterprise, criminal or otherwise, but somehow it all made sense to my exhausted, dream self. 

Especially after Judy broke my heart because I never told her how I feel. Now, I still haven’t told her, but at least I know what’s going on this time. “Damn it!” 

“Nick? Are you awake?” Judy asked. Did I sub-vocalize and she heard through the thin walls? Probably. Those big rabbit ears are not merely for show. 

“I am awake,” I replied. 

“There will be breakfast in the kitchen shortly,” she said. 

“Thank you.”

So, I got up, got dressed, left my room, and then ran into Jenny on the way to the kitchen. 

“Nick,” she said, by way of greeting. “Feeling better?” Judy must have told Jenny that I was sick when they were talking at the fruit stand while I slept in the truck. 

“Yes, thanks,” I said, not sure how to go on. I knew Judy and Jenny were fighting because Judy didn’t like Rocco. Would Jenny just think I was going to report anything she said back to her sister?

“Jenny. Umm. Rocco proposed to you?” I asked, trying to figure out what I was supposed to be doing at this moment. I had forgotten about this conversation. 

“Yeah. He’s- Well, he’s a good mammal. Trying to be good, anyway, but it’s hard with all the bunny pre-justice. It's all bunny privilege here in Bunnyburrow, you know?” 

“I’ve heard about it. Got some of that kind of thing in Zootopia, but it’s mostly anti-predator bias there. I guess BB has some shops that serve ‘bunnies only?’” I asked, using air quotes. I'll see those tomorrow.

“Yeah. Not a great selling point, you know?” She replied, and then paused. 

“So, I’d like to apologize for the way I acted yesterday when we met the second time. With my parents.” She concluded, not looking at me. 

“I understand. It’s hard to- Hard to deal with things sometimes,” I replied, then I remembered what we're supposed to talk about. 

“I was wondering. Your mother and I got off to a rough start, and I thought it was an anti-fox thing, but then I remembered that Gideon seems to get along well with her. Do you know how he did it?” I asked. 

“Gideon? Oh, yeah, he’d know how to talk to my mother. Not sure what he said to her, but I’m sure he’d tell you if you asked.”

“Thanks,” I replied. 

She nodded and started to say something else, but then Judy arrived. The sisters are not as friendly today, and I can see and smell the anger and resentment from both. I try to stay out of it and make no comment, but just follow Judy to breakfast and then out to the truck.

“I thought we’d help out at the faire today. Sound OK to you? That is, are you up for it?” Judy asked. 

“Yes, I’m better now. I’ve had some time to think, and I’ll be OK,” I assured here. It’s probably true. I’m still not sure what to say on the bridge Monday night, but I have time left to think about it.

She had been driving for a few minutes when she made a comment I knew she had been thinking seriously about. “You two were chummy. You and Jenny, that is.” She gestured with a paw and focused an ear on me as she drove. As usual, she didn’t take her eyes off the windshield in front, except to check her mirrors every few minutes. She’s very careful that way. 

“Yes. Jenny wanted to apologize for the way she acted with your parents at the truck,” I replied. I remember having made some sort of sarcastic reply in the dream, but now I don't recall exactly what it was. What ever it was, it wasn't the kind of thing to say to your friend in a situation like this. 

“She should! Accepting a proposal of marriage from the town slime ball! She should apologize for that!" Judy replied.

“He’s just using her,” Judy continued. “She’s always had feelings of inferiority because of… umm… feeling that she’ll never be able to get a buck to want her.” Now she was looking and sounding embarrassed. This was family gossip, and what I suppose some would call girl talk, and I’m neither. On the other paw, I have had time to think about this situation and I know how to it resolves in a couple of days.

“She’s not ugly,” I say, by means of a place holder. It’s not my place to judge, but I have to say something. 

“She thinks she is,” Judy replied, still not looking at me. Had she not been driving, she would still not have looked at me, I’m sure. 

So, Jenny latches onto the first male that shows interest. Unfortunately, that male is a scumbag like Rocco Lars. The kind of mammal I used to be, and I remember doing this con myself a few times when I was younger. Judy doesn’t know what I’m thinking and lets me ponder the rest of the way in silence. 

We reached the faire grounds, parked, and took a brief tour before we started assembling equipment. I found it easy work, and I was very glad to loose myself in physical activity. I had been thinking way too much lately. 

Around lunch time, Judy called a break. I got some food and then went looking for the Greys, thinking about what I need to do. First, I’ll meet Jeanette so she'll ask me for a date later, and, second, I’ll get Gideon's advice on how to make Bonnie like me. I don't really need the advice about Bonnie, but I don't want to change the events too much because I'm not sure what sort consequences might come of that. 

After the date with Jean, I’ll tell her my heart, such as it is, belongs to another and let her down as easy as I can before she gets too invested. 

She really doesn’t know me, and we’re all at least a little broken. She’s been timid her entire life, probably because of the predator prey thing here in rabbit town, but now she wants, or needs, to come out of her shell, and so she tries to partner with someone who is apparently more confident than herself. We would have been sort of like Jenny and Rocco that way, but this would have been Jeanette and Nick. 

But, whatever else happens, we won’t be a couple. I want Judy to see Jean and I together so the bridge conversation will happen, but I won’t push things with Jeanette if she's not interested. I’m not that selfish person anymore. 

I approached Gideon’s stall, but didn’t see him first. I saw Jeanette, and we talked until her huge brother appeared from the back. It was strange dealing with other foxes like this after all this time in Zootopia, but I remembered how to do it. His pheromones broadcast ‘no fight’ and so did my own. He’s bigger than I am and has the benefit of not being as emotionally confused as me, and he's not an out of shape, former con-mammal, so he would certainly win. 

“What brings you here, Wilde?” He asked, after we got to talking. He could smell my love pheromones and had, after all, just seen me with his sister. He doesn't know who I'm actually in love with, and I can't tell him yet. 

“Bonnie doesn’t much like me. She seems to like you. How’d you do that? I’m asking because Bonnie and I got off on the wrong foot yesterday, so I asked her daughter Jenny, who suggested you.”

“Even after I outed her relationship status with Rocco to Bonnie?”

“That was you?" I asked, and he nodded. "Jenny's not holding a grudge, but I might. Bonnie was pissed off when they got home yesterday afternoon and I caught the full brunt of it because I was available to be attacked and because I was with Judy." I already knew who told Bonnie.

“So, you and Judy?” He asked. I know exactly what he meant, but I can’t tell him. 

“Nah. Just partners,” I replied, keeping my reply short because I need at least one date with his sister. Damn it. I’m using some of those con-mammal skills.

Gideon noticed the change in scent toward frustration, and looked at me oddly. 

“It’s nothing,” I assured him, waving. “So, about that advice?”

Ten minutes later, I was on my way to the pie eating contest tent where I knew I’d find Bonnie. I found her easily enough and, as expected, she didn’t want to talk to me. 

“Was I not clear enough yesterday?” She asked. She sounded and looked amused, in the same way marks would look when I had tried, and failed, to hustle them in my younger days. I was careful not to grind my teeth because a con-mammal would fully deserve this sort of scorn, and that's what I was. 

“I’d like to know what bridge I broke. Maybe I can fix it,” I replied, not backing down. My body language was matching hers now. Arms crossed, feet apart, ears and center of gravity leaning very slightly forward. I had considered adopting a more open appearance, but then thought a stronger position might get better results in this situation. 

She sighed, and turned her head and eyes away. Her ears remained focused on me. “Look, Mr. Wilde? I know you think you have good intentions, but I know about your past. To be perfectly frank, I don’t think Judy fully understands what sort of person you… were,” she said. 

She's being very candid. I appreciate the past tense of that verb, and nod, saying nothing. 

She thought for a moment and then added, “My daughter deserves more than a con mammal.” She didn’t, quite, glare at me, but her nose quivered like she expected some sort of violent reaction from me. I wonder if she meant Jenny or Judy? Probably both. 

“I agree,” I said, and that was all. A con-mammal would have tried to explain and defend himself by saying he was a changed mammal, so I won't go down that road unless she mentions it. Instead, I lean back a bit and relaxe my ears in acceptance. Had Bonnie been a fox, she would have smelled my agreement as well. 

She walked around a table, stopped, and, when she spoke again, she looked and sounded less certain. “Can a con-mammal change?” 

“Some can. Some won’t. Rocco? Not so much. Me? I think I can. I know I’ll try,” I replied, being equally candid and blunt. She seemed to appreciate it. 

She nodded without taking her eyes off me. I bowed slightly and took my leave. I looked down, and was careful not to look back because that might suggest uncertainty. 

That’s when I literally ran into Jeanette, who had been eavesdropping with a pie in her paws. I got the blue berry stain like in the dream, but this time I didn’t try very hard to get it out of my chest fur. I know now that it won’t come out until after my date with her. 

“Fancy meeting you here,” I said to the vixen, to let her know I wasn’t upset about my now modified shirt. 

“Sorry about that! I wasn’t watching,” she said, very nervously. I could smell her uncertainty and just a touch of fear. I’m older and that’s important for vulpines like us. I could give her a tongue lashing for her clumsiness, but then I would probably have to fight her brother when he found out and then 'accidentally' bumped into me several times until I fought him. 

“It’s OK,” I replied. Last time, I did various things to reassure her, but this time I didn’t try as hard. She’ll either ask Judy to ask me for a date, or she won’t. I’ll accept the date, and then let her down as easy as possible at the next opportunity. It’s a skill I’ve used before, but usually only after I got what I wanted out of the relationship. At least this time should be easier after only one date and no physical intimacy because I am not a jerk. Not now. 

We spoke briefly, and then I politely excused myself and went back to find Judy. We finished up at the faire, went home, and then back to our rooms. Judy showered and then I did also because we have some social activities later this evening. 

Judy rejoined me in my room just before we were supposed to leave for the tavern. Eating and drinking at the tavern is Stu’s idea, of course, but I know he’s not the only one with an agenda tonight. He was slightly ashamed of the fight yesterday when he and his wife met me, and he wants to smooth things over. His wife, Bonnie, will take this opportunity to further browbeat and alienate Jenny. Judy will be playing match maker between me and Jean, and participate in ganging up on her sister, Jenny. I want to get the date so I can move things along toward the conversation on the bridge with Judy. 

“You’re wearing that tie?” She asked when she saw me. 

Oh yeah, I got distracted and forgot about the tie. I’ve got one she likes, but I hate it, so I dig that one out and show it to her. Yep, that’s the one she wants me to wear, so I make the trade and then we go to the tavern. 

The tavern is not so bad. I mean, it’s a big building full of mostly lupine mammals. The structure was converted from some other use some time ago, but at least it’s big enough for me to not feel like some sort of bull in a china shop. There are rabbits everywhere, of course, and some few look hostile. I ignore those and nod back to those that nod to me. I am careful to keep my body language and scent open and non-threatening. I may not need to bother about the scent, but you never know if a bunny will notice something like that. I remember that Jenny did in my dream. 

Foxes used to eat rabbits, but these bunnies would simply form a mob and then kick me to death if I tried anything. There has been peace between our species for a thousand years, so why must some mammals cause trouble? I’d rather live and let live, especially now, so I grin in the approved, no teeth way, and try to look happy and non-threatening. 

Judy and I sat down with Bonnie, Stu, and Gideon. Gideon’s sister, and Judy’s sister, were around somewhere and eventually the females would gang up on Jenny and I would get an offer from Jean. 

But first, we heard the story about Noots from Stu. 

“Well, Bonnie’s father didn’t like me much, that’s where the word comes from. Tried to bribe me with that golden carrot you see on display at the faire every year. I could have that, or Bonnie, but I ended up with both. It was when I turned down the bribe that the old buck said, “You’re noots, Stu, noots!””

We all laughed, appreciating the story. It was less interesting to me now, but I laughed with the others and toasted Stu with my beer mug for the look of it. 

I waited until after I saw Judy and Jean talking, and then I went to the male mammal’s room to stay on script. I stood in front of the mirror and counted to 60, then walked out looking for Judy. If she wasn’t there, I would go back to the table and wait, but then I saw her. 

“Nick? Can I ask you a personal question?”

“I’m not gay,” I replied. I couldn’t help it. I knew from the dream that she didn’t know, and I wanted to make sure she did. 

“Oh, OK. Umm. What is your type, anyway?”

“My type? For dating, you mean?”

“Yeah. Jeanette wanted me to ask you. She would like to go on a date with you,” Judy said.

Last time I heard that, I felt like I’d been hit with a sledgehammer. This time, it wasn’t so bad, so I’m not going to lose any sleep over it. I’m also not going to think about becoming a con-mammal again so I don’t have to spend so much time at the ZPD with Officer Judy Hopps. 

“Jean? She’s OK, sure, and a vixen, obviously, but I’m not picky that way. Heck, I’d date a doe if she asked!” I said, so she’d remember it later. 

“Oh, good. I’ll tell her-“ she started to reply, but I made a hand motion to cut her off. 

“But I’d like her to be a woman about it ask me herself. None of this junior high ‘what did he say about me?’ stuff.”

“OK. Thanks Nick,” she said, and walk bounced away like she does when she's happy. I never seem to get tired of watching her move. 

I went back to the table, and then saw Judy talk to Jean at the bar, both of them looked at me, and then Judy left to rejoin her mother at the other end of the bar.

I waited an appropriate amount of time, and then went to join Jean. “You wanted to ask me something?” I asked when she turned away. She’s young, and very inexperienced. I’d like to make this whole thing as easy as possible for her because I remember what sort of train wreck I made out of my first time. 

“Umm. Nick, Nickolas? Would you go out with me?” She asked now. I could see and smell her nervousness. She didn't look directly at me, her ears were canted oddly, and she wasn't sure what to call me. 

“Just Nick is fine. Pick me up tomorrow around 9 AM at the Hopps compound. We can wander around the town, maybe get lunch from a street vendor, and then help your brother out,” I replied. I remember what happens, but there is no need to mention the meeting with Rocco Lars.

“OK!” She replied, broadcasting relief with her scent and body language. 

She didn’t know what to say next, so I nodded and went back to my table until it was time to leave. I saw the drama with Bonnie, Jenny, and Judy, and then saw Judy come back to the table while Bonnie and Jenny continued their argument outside. I stayed out of that, but I knew Judy had sided with her mother against Jenny, who would still be feeling hurt the next time the sisters see each other. Eventually, we all went home, and I got some sleep on my bedroll on the floor.


	5. Meeting Rocco Lars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nick has a date with a vixen and then gets an offer from a raccoon

I woke up around 7 AM the next morning, feeling well rested. Now, what’s happening today? 

Jean should be here in a couple of hours. Judy has her heat this afternoon and dreams about me, after she calls Rocco Lars names and I defend him because I’m still mad about last night and the ‘bunnies only’ signs in town. I’ll meet Rocco twice today and plan a felony theft, thinking that I can use my share of the profits to fund a new life with Jean. I’ll do my best to alienate Judy before changing my mind and inviting her along on my second date with Jean, tomorrow. I’ll never apologize to anyone for anything. What a mess I try to make of my life!

I get dressed and go looking for breakfast, but find Jenny first. She says she’ll be staying at Rocco’s place this morning, sleeping, but she doesn’t say where Rocco will be. I know that he’ll be in the town square selling second hand fruit with the Hopps family trademark from a portable stand. He's got permission from Jenny to sell it, but Judy doesn't know that. 

Judy finds me at 8:30 AM and tells me she’s been invited to come with me and Jean. That’s fine, of course, but that also means the Rocco fight will happen. 

Jean arrives at 9 AM and Judy and I get in her van. Me in the front, and Judy in the back so she can give the young vixen advice. They aren’t sure what to do, and I just want to get the Rocco thing out of the way, so we end up parking the van, and then walking around kicking leaves. 

I see Rocco, and then, so does Judy. 

“Rocco Lars! Still not in jail?” Judy asks. She’s got her ears up and hands on her hips, glaring at the raccoon. 

“What’s it to you, cottontail?” Rocco replies. He plays the role of the victim this morning and Judy either doesn’t care what he’s doing or doesn’t notice, and so she falls right into the small town cop with a god complex role. I remember my second meeting with Judy Hopps back in Zootop, and I'm grateful that she wasn't this angry at me that time. 

They bicker back and forth as a small crowd gathers. In the dream, I watched Judy and felt sorry for Rocco, but this time I watch Jean. She doesn’t seem to care who’s right or wrong here, but, like many of the spectators, she wants the arguing to stop.

Judy is too angry to care what this looks like. “I ought to arrest you for selling stolen fruit right now,” she says, and I know she could. She always has her badge and handcuffs, but I can’t let her do that. Not yet. 

“Judy? You can’t arrest him,” I tell her. She moves toward the raccoon and I step bodily in front of her. If she arrests him for selling the fruit, and it turns out he has permission, which he does, then Judy will get in trouble. Also, I won’t be able to arrest him later for steeling the golden carrot. “Don’t arrest him.”

Judy glares at me, but backs off. I watch and she puts one of her paws on her forehead, and then retreats so she can call her mother to get a ride home. 

Jean looks and smells uncertain, but Rocco only smirks. 

“Cops are always trying to get me. Haven’t yet, and never will,” he says. 

Just you wait, Rocco. 

“Buy you two breakfast?” he asks. 

“Sure,” I reply, and accompany him and Jean into a nearby diner that doesn’t have a ‘rabbits only’ sign. He spends a brief time folding up his display first, and then leads the way. He hasn't washed recently, and I catch Jean grimacing out of the corner of my eye. 

In the diner, I get a further appreciation for why Judy dislikes him. He leers at the waitress and Jean, even though he’s supposed to be engaged to Jenny and he knows Jean is here with me. He openly disparages pretty much everybody he knows. He brags about, and exaggerates, his own accomplishments. He is, in fact, a typical con-mammal, and even tries to look the part with a golden earing. Apparently, that is meant to show people how successful he is. 

I feel a little sick, knowing some people see me like that, and not only because of what foxes used to do. It’s also because of what I used to do, and the way I’ve been acting since I joined the ZPD. There is some anti-predator bias in Zootopia and some “not a bunny” bias here in Bunnyburrow, but my laziness was not helping my case on the job in Zootop. 

Jean gets a text notification during my conversation with Rocco. “Why don’t you take care of that, babe?” I suggest, and she leaves, grateful to be away from the raccoon. I know Rocco makes her uncomfortable and I know he wants to be alone with me to discuss his planned gold theft. 

Rocco spends some time leering at her and I am reminded what sort of scum bag he is. Dumbass is engaged to Jenny and making eyes at my girlfriend. With me sitting right here! But then, that’s the kind of person he is, and I was. “Have you tapped that yet?”

“Not yet,” I reply and turn away, working on suppressing my urge to rip his throat out. I’ll settle with him later. 

“So, Wilde, I’ve got some big plans. What would you say if I told you I knew a way to steel the golden carrot?”

“I’d say you shouldn’t let your reach exceed your grasp”

“What the fuck that mean?”

I sighed. “No way you could do it. They watch that thing all the time and they’d catch you.”

“I could, with the right help. I already have a fence. I just need someone to hold the merchandise for me until the heat dies down.”

Ten minutes later, Jean comes back and doesn’t see Rocco. 

“Where’s your friend?”

“Not a friend, no. More like a business partner, at least in his mind. Probably run into him again later,” I reply, gesturing across the table. “Have a seat.”

She sits back down, across from me this time, now that Rocco has left. Foxes get enough odd looks in BB without possibly making mammals think we’re making out in public by sitting side by side. 

“Nick?” She’s uncertain now. As a fox, she can smell my scent, and can tell I’m not really interested in her.

“Jean, I probably should not have agreed to a date with you. I had my heart broken recently, and it’s too soon for me to be looking again.”

“Oh,” she replies, unsure what to say. 

“I’d like to still be friends? Maybe we can spend the rest of the day helping your brother at the bakery? Maybe tomorrow, you, me, and Judy can visit the faire? Play some games. Have fun?”

“Oh, well, OK,” she replies. Her scent is still uncertain, her paws are on the seat to either side of her, and her ears are canted back. 

“Was it something I did, or didn’t do?” She blurts out. “Maybe mating habits in the city are different?”

Now, she’s smelling and seeing my confusion. “No, no. It’s me, and not you. Really! You’ll hear that again the next time you’re in a break up, but this time, it really is true. I’m- I just can’t be dating you.”

“Because I’m too young?” She asks, but she looks and smells less uncertain and more angry now. She has her arms crossed on her chest, and her ears are still angled back.

I really should have put some more thought into this conversation. It’s not like I didn’t know it was coming. “No, no. I’m- That is, have you ever had a crush on someone? Maybe a teacher or older neighbor, or someone famous, and you know it won’t work for some really good reason, but you want what you want, and you want no one else? It usually goes away eventually, but mine isn’t going away.”

“You have a crush on someone?”

“Yes,” I reply. “And I recently found out that she doesn’t feel the same way about me.”

“You asked her?” Now she has her paws in front of her on the table and she's looking more intrigued than angry. 

“No, not really. I kind of hint around, you know? We spend a great deal of time together, so I feel like I know her fairly well. Also, she’s not vulpine, so that’s the ‘won’t work’ part of it.”

“Oh,” Jean says. If she didn’t know before, now she definitely knows who I’m talking about. 

“You’d like to spend the day with her tomorrow?” She asks after thinking a few seconds. “Not me?”

“You and her, actually. I really miss the company of other foxes, being one of the few in Zootop and the only one in the ZPD.”

“I don’t want to be a third wheel,” she says, but I can tell she’s willing to be convinced. 

“It won’t be like that. Maybe you can help me figure out how to tell her how I feel?”

“Just tell her,” she grins, showing her teeth, one predator to another. “Even a novice knows that.”

“OH, look at the time! Let’s go help your brother bake pies,” I suggest with some haste. I need her on my side, and I need Judy to see us together. Well, not need, but want. Definitely want, so I can’t take Jean’s advice and tell Judy yet. 

We went to her brother’s shop and I helped out, mostly by carrying things because I have no baking or cake decorating skills. I’m sure she told Gideon what I said at the diner, but he didn’t confront me about it. For my part, I worked as hard as I could as a sort of payment for Jean’s help. In my mind, anyway.

At the appointed time, I took a break to go find Rocco and ran into Judy. Not literally, of course, but we found ourselves on opposite side of a mud puddle. She looked at me and I looked at her. “Let’s talk later, OK?” I whispered because I knew that would make her think, and I really didn’t want to explain what I was on my way to do, not yet anyway. I also didn’t want to discuss what she was on her way to do. Again, not yet, and I knew she was having a bad day already after getting lectured by her mother, having an exciting dream about me during a nap, and then getting caught washing her laundry by Jenny. 

I saw her ears perk up as she heard me, and then I simply walked away. I had a meeting with a thief, and Judy has a meeting with Jean. 

I see the raccoon by his truck. “Hey, Rocco. That thing we were talking about earlier?”

“Sure. Jump up. I’m just looking busy,” he replied. 

I got in and again smelled his unpleasant odor. He said, “I’m thinking you’ll be my storage guy. I’ll grab the carrot tomorrow and hand it off to you somewhere out of sight, probably my trailer house. I’ll make sure Jenny isn’t there at the time. You just hold the carrot until after the cops search me and my property, then I collect the carrot, sell it, and give you a nice, fat five percent of the take,” Rocco says. “Sound good?”

“Ten percent,” I reply, grinning. “You need me more than five percent.”

He stops grinning, and shifts his cigarette around in his mouth, staring at me. I simply wait because I already know what he’ll say. 

“OK. Deal,” he replies, not without reluctance. “You know how this goes, right?”

I do. He gives me his home address and a date and time. He won’t put my number in his phone because he knows the cops will search his property for the carrot and his phone for contacts. I’ll meet him tomorrow night and pick up the carrot, and then wait for him to contact me a few days or a week later. It’s amazing that he trusts me so much, but then, he figures I’m what they call an “honest criminal.” That is, I won’t betray a fellow criminal, and he knows I can’t fence the carrot for as much as he can get for it. 

I jump back out of his truck, and he doesn’t follow because he doesn’t want us seen together. Was I tempted this time to leave the life of respectability and enter, or re-enter, the life of being a major ass hole? No, no I was not. I was thinking about this when I reached the Greys’ stall and saw Jean again. 

“Nick? Judy was just here. She said I shouldn’t be dating you because you were some sort of con-mammal,” Jean says, by way of greeting. She looks, sounds, and smells, outraged on my behalf. 

“Well, I guess she’d know,” I reply, making no attempt to defend myself. 

“You’re not upset?” She asks. Now, she looks very confused. “You do believe me, right?”

“Oh, yes. I saw her on the way here earlier. I hope this means she- That is-“

“Yeah, I know what you mean. Are you sure she’s worth all this?”

It’s an honest question, delivered without rancor. Jean wants what’s best for me, and doesn’t like what Judy said. 

“Yes. And I was a con-mammal. That’s how we met. She called me a liar and then tried to arrest me. I told her she was nothing more than a meter maid, and she’d never be a real cop.”

“Ouch. She forgave you?” Jean asked, as I smelled her curiosity. 

“Yes. After she said some other mean things about me,” I replied. Jean apparently doesn’t know about the infamous ‘predators are biologically predisposed to be savages’ speech Judy gave in Zootopia last year, and I don’t like to remind anyone. It was not her finest hour. 

I helped Jean and Gideon with their baking some more, and then Jean took me back to the Hopps compound a few hours later. 

“Thanks for being honest,” she said, in the van. 

“It’s a new skill I’m working on,” I replied, sounding resolute and broadcasting determination with my scent. She didn’t laugh, but at least she grinned. 

It was getting dark by the time Jean dropped me off, and I saw Judy outside the Hopps house as I waved to Jean, who drove away. 

“Hey, Judy. What a day, eh?” I asked, not bothering to raise my voice. 

“Yeah. A day,” she replied, uncertain, when I was closer. “Did you have a good time?” Now I was hearing in the voice, and seeing in the body language, hurt and regret. 

“Pretty good. We’ll get together again tomorrow. You’re invited,” I replied, and then waited a few seconds. “You’ll never guess who I ran into again today.”

“My mother?”

“No, someone else,” I replied.

She just looked at me, and then got a look of disgust. “Rocco Lars.”

“Yep. Wants me to help him steel a golden carrot. That is, he’ll steel it tomorrow and hand it off to me at his mobile home tomorrow night so it would not be found on him when the sheriff searches. Rocco will collect it from me later, when the heat has died down, and then give me 10% of the profits, after the sale.”

The look on her face was priceless, and she blurted out, “You’re not serious!”

“Like a heart attack. I was thinking you and I could arrest him after he grabs the carrot. Maybe before he leaves the faire, or maybe later when he tries to hand it off to me?”

She just stares at me. ”Tomorrow?”

“That’s right, tomorrow evening,” I reply. “Also, I’d like you to accompany Jean and I while we take in the sights tomorrow.”

“I heard the part about Jean already; I don’t want to go through that again. I-“ 

“Not downtown. Just the faire, OK?”

“OK,” she replied. She didn’t smell or sound very enthusiastic, and her ears were droopy. 

“What’s wrong?” 

“Fight with Jean. Argument, anyway.”

“Yeah,” I replied. I even knew what both women had said, so I didn’t ask. I did give her time to tell me if she wanted to, but she didn’t. 

“Let’s go inside?”

“Not yet. We need to wash off the mud,” she said, walking toward the water spigot. 

I walked to the hose and found the other end. When water started coming out, I pretended to ignore it until Judy was too close to me and too far from the spigot. 

“Don’t you dare!” she said, and I grabbed the end and used my thumb to restrict the flow enough to get a good water jet, that I then turned on Judy. She jumped, but wasn’t quick enough. This was not, of course, a Bunnies Gone Wild moment, but I wished it was. She was soaked, but her modesty was entirely intact. 

I made sure the mud was off her feet and my own, and then turned off the water. “Go get me some towels?” She asked. 

I went into the house, and then came back out with some linens. I was expecting a soaking, but I didn’t get one, even after I gave her the towels.

“What’s wrong, Carrots?” 

“Nothing. Just thinking,” she replied. 

We went inside, and she got changed so we could go into town. We had an errand to run.


	6. Last Day of the Faire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nick, Judy, and Jean enjoy the faire, and Rocco makes a grab for the carrot

I woke up early again, and thought about what I would need to do and say today. It’s almost like running downhill because I can't stop until the end. Start by talking to Bonnie. Jean and Judy at the faire. Rocco Lars. Stu’s tirade. And then, the finish line at the bridge. 

I went looking for Judy's mother and found her in the dining area. I was too late for breakfast, and too early for lunch, but there were some apples to eat. I grabbed one of those. 

“Good morning,” I said.

“Morning,” Bonnie replied, not looking at me. Like most rabbits, she has a way of focusing on other mammals, like me this time, with one ear even though her eyes are staring out the window at something else. Foxes can do something similar, but our ears are not as large or mobile, so we don’t do it as well. 

“She’ll come around. Won’t stay mad forever,” I said, and took a bit of the apple. I can’t tell Bonnie what happens to Rocco later today, even though I know that will break his hold on Jenny. Bonnie won’t understand how I know. 

“Who-“

“Jenny. Deep down, I think she knows what sort of mammal Rocco Lars is. She just doesn’t want to admit it. Especially when she’s been told she was wrong,” I said. “Foxes used to call that ‘eating crow,’ but I’m not sure what birds have to do with it.” I hoped she knew where the phrase came from and that would allow her to assume a stronger dialogue position, and get some time to think about her own arguments, by explaining the phrase to this ignorant fox. 

“Are you close to your mother?” Bonnie asked instead, and turned slightly toward me in her chair. 

“Not really. I’m something of a disappointment, so I’ve stayed away. I do plan to reconnect with her when I get back. Dad, of course, is out of the picture because he left long ago.”

“Oh. Kind of what I thought,” Bonnie replied, and went back to staring at her coffee mug. Her scent was less depressed now. 

That’s when Judy entered the room, and my various mental faculties hiccupped. I knew, intellectually, what to expect, but knowing and seeing are different. Judy never wears dresses. It’s always something more functional, and usually, something with armor. I’m a fan of her not getting shot or stabbed, of course, but now I realize I’m also a fan of Judy looking like this. 

Dress. Jewelry. Makeup. The whole effect was nice. Not too much, not too little. Very… impressive. “You look nice,” I told her. I know both bunnies had heard my heart rate change. 

She blushed. “Thanks.”

Jean arrived, and we went out to get a ride with her to the faire. 

Jean saw Judy dressed up like this and cocked an eye at me. I also got a clear scent message from the vixen. ‘She wants you.’

I nodded, and we got in the truck. I let Judy take shotgun and I sat in the back this time. The women were quiet a little while. 

Judy said, “I’m sorry about what I said about Nick yesterday. I was out of line.” She looked at Jean first and then me. 

“I understand,” Jean replied, looking first at Judy and then at me. I noticed Judy wince when Jean took her eyes entirely off the road, but Judy was wise enough to make no comment. 

We arrived at the faire and bought tickets. I tried to pay for the three of us, but the doe and the vixen ignored me and paid their own ways. Judy didn’t have to pay because she’s Stu’s daughter, but I found out later she always did. I might have gotten away with not paying either because I helped set up, but I wasn’t sure that was fair. 

We wandered around. Started with some snacks, and then played a sort of water balloon game. The objective was to get as much water into a balloon as possible, but I had trouble because the handles were very small. Very little of my water went anywhere but the floor. Jean had the same problem, so Judy won that game easily. 

“What prize would you like?” The attendant asked, and Judy pointed. 

Oh, no. It’s a stuffed fox and she’ll-

“Here you go, Nick. For You,” she said, and looked at Jean. 

The vixen only stared at the doe a moment, and then said, “I’ll pick the next game.”

That game, as I knew it would be from the dream, was the pumpkin painter, and Jean won easily. I didn’t even try and Judy’s painting, though not bad, was clearly not as detailed, or realistic looking, as Jean’s. The vixen, I was again reminded, is a professional baker and cake decorator.

“For you, Nick,” she said, and gave it to me. She looked a question at Judy, and then both women looked at me. 

“What did I do?” I asked, but of course I knew. 

You would think it would be fun to have two women figuratively fighting over you, but it wasn’t. I was concerned about consequences later. Not choosing the wrong one, but what to say to Jean when I chose Judy if Jean clearly won this ‘fight.’ I had expected to have to think about what to say at the bridge, not here at the faire. 

Their contest continued into the early afternoon and further as the fair wound down and stalls and shops started closing. 

The last event was the dating wagon, and the women were tied. In the dream, Jean tells me to tell Judy to get lost, and Judy volunteers to step aside, but I refused to tell her to leave. That shouldn’t happen here, this time. I hope. 

“Go ahead,” Jean said, gesturing to me. 

“Don’t mind if I do,” Judy said. 

Then they both looked at me again and laughed. “Did you see his face when I gave him the stuffed fox?” Judy asked Jean. 

“Or when you won the pie eating contest?” Jean replied. 

“I felt so sick!” Judy replied, “and I got blueberries all over my dress!”

Now they were both openly laughing, and embracing in that way some females do. Males like me don’t touch each other like that, and I felt confused and not a little left out. 

“Ladies, what-“

“Oh Nick, Jean texted me last night, and then we got to talking,” Judy said. “You’re not dating Jean! I know that.”

“You said you two had had a fight.” In fact, I know they did. 

“That’s right,” Jean said. “But then you didn’t seem to be very concerned about what Judy said about you, and I remembered what you told me at the diner.”

She gave me a very serious look, and then said, to Judy, “You two need to talk. And soon.”

“I know,” Judy said. 

I just stared, dumb founded, until I saw something familiar. It was Rocco, and he was parking his truck near the golden carrot. 

“On that note,” I said, to Jean, “it’s time for us to go to work.” She waved and went back to join her brother at the pie stand. 

I showed Judy a phone message and she nodded as I hit 'send.' 

Officer Hopps and I waited until Rocco picked up the box with the carrot, and then we walked over and stood near the back of Rocco’s truck. He was loading the box in the truck when he saw us. 

“Wilde? Cottontail! What the hell are you doing here?” The raccoon asked. He knew we had caught him red handed. 

“Rocco Lars. You’re under arrest for attempted felony theft. That is, you’re in the process of the crime,” I said, gesturing at the box he was holding. “Put the box on the ground, put your paws out where we can see them, and turn around.” I didn’t expect him to comply, but there were various witnesses around, mostly rabbits, and I was going to do this by the book. The raccoon had not noticed anyone else near his truck yet. 

He tossed the box at us, and ran under his truck. We watched as he came out under the driver’s side door, climbed up, and then into, the cab. He started the truck and was about to put it in drive before he saw the flashing lights of the Bunnyburrow sheriff’s car not more than three feet away from his bumper. 

Rocco then actually did put the truck into reverse, but it didn’t move far. The sheriff, or a deputy, had booted one of the truck’s front wheels while we were distracting the thief.

The sheriff used his bullhorn. “Rocco Lars. Exit the vehicle. You’re under arrest for, among other things, public endangerment and resisting arrest for an attempted felony. Exit the vehicle now.”

Judy and I had been getting the various civilians far enough away from the truck for safety reasons, and now we watched as Rocco exited the cab and pointed an accusing finger at me. 

“That’s him! That fox! It was his plan all along! He was going to hide the carrot after I stole it, in exchange for 10% of the money!”

“Ten percent isn’t very much, Rocco, if he was the brains behind your foolishness,” the sheriff observed, putting cuffs on the raccoon. “Also, I know all about the plan because he told me yesterday. You didn’t know Wilde is a cop?”

“Dirty cop!” Rocco said, but I ignored him, as the sheriff put the raccoon in the back of the patrol car. I still felt a certain amount of guilt about what I had done, or almost done, the other time. 

Someone from the crowd got into Rocco’s truck and turned off the engine, and then a raccoon deputy unhooked the boot and took the golden carrot out of the box. 

“Where-“ the deputy began, only to step back in surprise when Stu Hopps pushed his way through the crowd. 

“Give me that!” Stu said, taking the carrot from the unresisting, and puzzled, deputy. 

Then Stu turned on me. “What did you do, fox? Tried to steel this?” He was very angry. Ears up and focused entirely on me. Scent hostile. Eyes blazing and glaring at me. He was shaking the carrot at me like some sort of pointer. 

I thought about what happened in the dream, and kept silent. 

“Dad!” Judy said, glaring at her father. “Rocco Lars tried to steel the carrot. Nick helped us catch him.”

“Because he was in on it. Now he’s just liing to save his own pelt!” Pelt is a term some bigots use for us predators, and not in a polite, ‘he has nice fur’ kind of way. It’s more like ‘he’s not worth the price of his skin as a rug’ kind of term. 

I had an odd sense of deja-vu, and looked around for Bonnie. I saw her stalking forward and glaring at her husband as well, so I turned away and started walking toward the bridge. Away from the kind of life a con-mammal lives. Away from Stu’s irrational anger, and Bonnie’s justifiable, this time, defense of my actions. 

As before, I had been walking what felt like a long time when I saw my shadow thrown out ahead of me on the road. Night had fallen and there was a vehicle approaching from behind me. 

I stopped and waited, knowing who it had to be. “Nick Wilde. Need a ride?” Gideon asked. 

“Not really, but I’ll accept one. I had to get away from that, you know?”

“I know what you mean. Some bunnies! So emotional!” Gideon said, and laughed. 

I climbed into his van and took in his scent. Amused. He smelled my own. Tired. I’m sure he had no idea how many times I’d said the same thing about Judy. Maybe it’s a fox / bunny thing?

He drove in silence for a few minutes, and then stopped at a section of road that looked, from the lighted cab of the truck, exactly like any other. I couldn’t see the bridge, but I knew it was there. 

“Here’s where you get off. Good luck!” He said. “Aren’t you even going to ask me what’s going on?”

“No. I already know. Would you believe I’ve been planning this meeting, at this bridge, for the last four days?” I replied, gesturing up the road. “Or anyway, waiting for this to happen and thinking about what I’ll say?” 

“Huh. Nope. I don’t believe you,” he replied, but I know he smelled my absolute certainty. From him, I only got amusement. He seemed to think I was trying to con him. 

I got out and waved as he drove away. 

The night was relatively quiet after Gideon’s truck noise faded away, but there was a familiar scent and I could now see an outline in the low light, over by the bridge. I waited for her to speak. 

“Nick?” Judy asked. 

I walked over to stand by the bridge railing next to her. 

“Judy,” I replied. “Rocco went to jail?”

“Yeah. Sorry about what Dad said. I expect he'll finally sell the carrot, now. You should have stayed to hear Mom give him a tongue lashing. ”

“No. I’ve heard it all before, and the mammal I was would have deserved it.”

“The mammal you are now, doesn’t,” she said. She sounded and smelled certain.

“Thanks, Judy,” I replied. Then I waited silently. I knew she had something else on her mind, and I knew what it was, but I didn’t want to spoil it.

“Nick, I can’t just be friends,” she said, eventually. She wasn’t looking at me, but one of her ears was focused more on me than whatever it was she was pretending to look at.

“That’s OK, Judy. I understand,” I replied. Then I waited. 

“You do?”

“I do,” I replied. “One hundred percent. What do you want to do about it? Would you like me to leave?" I asked, and waited for a reply. 

“No! No. I want- I don’t know what I want.”

“I think you do. Just say it. The truth makes you free from doubt and all that gibberish. Come on, it can’t be that hard for Judy Hopps, hero bunny. Just tell me!” 

“Nick!”

“Just tell me.”

“Nick!!”

“Just tell-“

“I love you, you, you infuriating bastard!”

“See? Was that so hard?” I asked. 

“You’re not even surprised?” 

“Not really. I’ve seen the clues, after all, and foxes have keen noses,” I said, taking her paw and starting to walk toward her home as she followed.

“If you knew, why did you make me say it?”

“I didn’t want to miss the fun. You setting me up with a vixen, and pretending not to know how great I am. The vixen was kind of nice…”

“Nick!”

We went back to the Hopps compound. I had been happy to just hold her paw, but then remembered that I was supposed to carry her. She’s carried me, in the past, after all, so I carried her now.


	7. Transition

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now we have the last partial day in Bunnyburrow and first partial day back at work.

We woke up together in John’s room the next morning. We did not have sex, in case you’re interested. I am so happy to have her here, in this bed, and in this part of my life. Do I want physical intimacy? Yes, yes I do, but I’ll wait as long as necessary. 

She sneaks back to her room, but I think many of her family know. We made very little noise, but the walls are thin and we did talk.

I waited a bit, and then went to find breakfast, and find Stu instead. He looks like he had a rough night, and stumbles through a more or less sincere apology. He wants to offer me part of the money from selling the golden carrot, but I suggest he invest it in a cake decorating business run by a vixen instead. He makes a counter offer. 

“Why don’t you invest it?”

 

An hour later, Jenny takes us to the train. She’s going to spend some more time out at the fruit stands, and away from her parents. 

“What about Rocco?” Judy asks. 

“He can rot in jail. He’s already tried to contact me to explain his side of things, he says,” Jenny said. Then she looked at me. “He’s blaming you, of course, but no one believes him.”

I could only nod my head. 

Judy and I board the train, and it’s straight to Zootopia, and then work the rest of the day. The first thing I do, when I get back, is change into my uniform, but the second thing I do is apologize to Chief Bogo for the slacker I was. He’s so confused by this that he almost doesn’t give me parking duty. 

Judy comes to get me many hours later after I’ve issued a few hundred tickets. I lost count and was just sort of going through the motions. I think I may have ticketed some trash cans at one point?

“Let’s get you clocked out and home,” she says, kindly. I do not argue and I am not surprised, but too tired to properly express my gratitude, when she joins me at my place for the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really didn't have much to say here. The next one, which is the last, is longer.


	8. Full Circle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Having recently come home from Bunnyburrow, Officers Nick Wilde and Judy Hopps now have to face the music

The rabbit and the fox were making out in a storage closet when they heard the big buffalo. 

“Hopps. And Wilde. My office, now!” Chief Bogo shouted, but there was a definite pause between the two names and a change of inflection. It wasn’t hard to tell, because everyone in the police station had heard plenty of shouts for comparison, but the name Wilde had been shouted less often than others lately.

The rabbit and the fox started running toward the chief’s office, but the fox held back just a bit. 

“I’m telling you. He doesn’t know!” The fox said, sounding amused. The rabbit had heard this tone of voice more often lately. 

“He knows what we’re doing. How could he not?” Judy waved as they passed Officer Wolford, and the wolf gave Wilde a thumbs up gesture and smirked; the fox pretended to ignore him. 

The fox grabbed the rabbit’s arm as she turned another corner ahead of him, but released it when she turned back to him. “We’ll talk about this at home,” she said, having felt his claws slide across her fur.

“Promise?” The fox asked, leaning forward suggestively. 

They reached the chief’s office, but paused briefly to straighten their uniforms. “Behave yourself! At least when on duty…”

Officer Wilde and then Officer Hopps entered the office and shut the door. As usual, the office was arranged for larger mammals like the chief, and there were few amenities for smaller mammals like rabbits and foxes. It may be that the chief did this on purpose because he had so few smaller mammals working for him now, but changes would probably be made shortly. 

“Take your seats,” the big buffalo said. He looked angry, but then, he always looked angry. 

They climbed up in the seats in the usual, awkward fashion. The bunny turned to help the fox, but he started to try and grab her thigh, so she deflected him, as the buffalo pretended to look at his papers, and then glared at his officers. They did not sit. Instead, they stood facing the cape buffalo across the desk. Wilde looked amused, and Hopps looked smug. They met their boss’ eyes calmly. 

'I have such high hopes for that partnership,' Bogo thought. 

“So. I have your reports. Anything you’d like to add?” Wilde and Hopps shook their heads. Wilde had looked at Hopps first, Bogo noted. “OK. I have some questions for the two of you and then I’d like to talk to you individually.

“This is an informal discussion. A couple of my officers had some trouble while on vacation in another jurisdiction last week, and I just got a report from their chief. Certain details came to his attention as a result of questioning a raccoon named Rocco Lars, and now I’d like to confirm a few things from your reports.” 

“Let’s start with you, Wilde. When did you find out about Rocco’s plan and what did you do?” The chief leaned forward slightly. These were the details on which he most wanted clarity. 

“I found out the first time I talked to him, Sunday. He told me he had this grand scheme, but I thought he was just bragging in front of the out of town fox. Then I talked to him again later that day, and got some more details, so I told Judy and then the Bunnyburrow sheriff. It’s all in the report.”

“Why didn’t you just arrest Rocco yourself?” The chief asked. 

“Procedure, sir. Supposed to work with the, ahem, local cops whenever something like this happens,” Wilde said, remembering that the sheriff there was a friend of Bogo’s, and nobody liked to be called one of the ‘locals’. 

“OK,” Bogo paused and made a note. “Hopps, what did you think of Nick’s plan?”

“Seemed like a good idea to me. I knew Rocco, so I wasn’t surprised, but I didn’t want to have my own feelings cloud my judgement.”

“When did Nick tell you about the planned robbery?” The buffalo asked. He knew what her answer would be from the report, but wanted to go over it again to see what sort of reasoning she had used. As chief, he had read many reports and he knew perfectly well when an officer, or officers, in this case, might be exaggerating something. 

“Sunday night. He had been out with a friend,” here she looked at the fox, who continued to look smug, she blushed, and then continued, “and he told me he wanted to see the local sheriff.”

“Did he seem like he wasn't sure he was doing the right thing?”

This time, the fox shrugged as if he didn't care what the answer was, and the rabbit said “No sir. It was his idea.“

“That’s enough. Officer Hopps, please wait outside.”

Judy put her hand on Nick’s shoulder, briefly, and then left the room and closed the door. 

The buffalo looked at the fox. “So. You found out that a criminal was planning a robbery and then turned him in, after gathering the necessary information. That about right?” The statements and question were delivered calmly, like he was talking about the weather.

“Pretty much,” the fox replied, grinning in the approved, no teeth, way. 

Bogo looked unimpressed, and spoke calmly. “Wilde, this is my office and a display of too many teeth by one of my smaller, predator type, officers might well get that officer squashed,” the chief said, tapping one massive hoof on the surface of his equally massive desk. The fox didn’t look particularly terrified, however. 

“The Bunnyborrow police chief is a friend of mine and he knows Rocco fairly well. Rocco thinks you interfered in order to get a larger share of the take, but we both know why you really did it. You don’t want to disappoint Judy," the chief said. He paused before adding, "I’ll be keeping you two together as partners.” 

“Of course.” 

“So nice to have your approval, Officer Wilde,” the chief said, evenly. Both the buffalo and the fox remembered that day in the rain forest district, the first time they met. “I’m pretty sure you know how much it means to me.”

“Maybe?“ The fox replied, trying to look terrified now. He failed. 

“An awards ceremony will be held and I’ll be making several comments. We can choose the paths we take and the choices we make. Good or bad. You chose… well.” He said this reluctantly. “Now, get out of my office.” 

Officer Wilde went out and then Officer Hopps came in. 

“Sir, Nick has been excited all day, and I apologize for his unusually cheeky behavior…” Judy began and then trailed off. She had obviously heard most of the conversation. 

The buffalo looked at the partially open door. “Wilde, you better not be listening!” 

“I was just leaving, sir,” was the reply. The buffalo sighed and then turned to Judy. 

“Eh. This is better than that sullen disengagement thing he had been doing,” the buffalo replied. “What do you think about being a sergeant? You can keep Wilde as your partner if you like, but no displays of affection on duty and in uniform. Or anyway, not outside this station, and be discrete in the building, at least.”

“Yes sir! I think I know how to manage him,” Officer Hopps replied. She tried not to smirk, and failed. 

“Whatever happened in Bunnyburrow seems to have turned him around,” the buffalo said. 

“Yes, sir,” the rabbit answered. To the listening fox, the rabbit sounded relieved.


End file.
